Fact Summary
Korea Asset Trust closed at KRW 2,375 as of 2026-08-18 (change -1.25% from the previous close, volume 340,359 shares). Per the FY2025 business report (consolidated), the company posted revenue of KRW 2,042.88 (100mn) (-9.8% YoY), operating profit of KRW 342.27 (100mn) (-33.9%), and net income of KRW 493.82 (100mn) (+32.0%); per the H1 2026 semiannual report (cumulative, DART filing no. 20260814001649), revenue was KRW 1,475.93 (100mn), operating profit KRW 418.01 (100mn), and net income KRW 355.35 (100mn). On 2026-05-02, Korea Ratings Corporation downgraded the company's unsecured corporate bond rating from A (negative) to A- (stable), citing weak recovery of trust account advances and declining profitability. Effective 2026-03-29, the CEO changed from Kim Gyu-cheol to Shin Chan-hyeok.
Change Context Note
The reference-date closing price fell 1.25% from the previous close to KRW 2,375. This comes amid continued expansion of the trust account advance balance (KRW 8,190 (100mn) at end-2024 → KRW 8,020 (100mn) at end-2025, with roughly KRW 660 (100mn) in loan-loss provisions recognized in 2025); while the industry's 14 real estate trust companies combined posted a net loss for a second consecutive year (a combined KRW -4,689 (100mn) in 2025, per Korea Investors Service), Korea Asset Trust remained profitable. The stock trades at a PER of 5.91x and PBR of 0.27x, lower earnings multiples than peer-listed Korea Land Trust (PER 13.70x, PBR 0.24x) (as of 2026-08-18).
Business Overview
Korea Asset Trust is a dedicated real estate trust company operating in debt-type land trusts (the company advances project costs and bears direct exposure to real estate market and pre-sale rate risk), management-type land trusts (the trustor procures funding while the company acts solely as project operator), and urban redevelopment projects (a new business line since the relevant law was amended in 2016, with revenue recognition expected to ramp up in earnest in 2027-2028 (E)) (Dealsite, 2026). The revenue breakdown by business segment is not available in this research.
5-Year Financial Trend
| Item | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | H1 2026 (cumulative) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue (KRW 100mn) | 2,590.7 | 2,264.5 | 2,042.9 | 1,475.9 |
| Operating profit (KRW 100mn) | 1,167.1 | 517.6 | 342.3 | 418.0 |
| Net income (KRW 100mn) | 1,296.4 | 374.2 | 493.8 | 355.4 |
| Debt ratio (%) | 43.00 | 65.05 | 60.45 | 55.61 |
2021-2022 figures and H1 2026 year-over-year comparatives are not available (not included in the system's confirmed financial-data table). H1 2026 is a cumulative first-half figure and is not directly comparable to full-year results. Source: DART filings (consolidated, A), filing nos. 20240313000912 / 20250318001253 / 20260318001022 / 20260814001649.
Valuation
Peer Comparison
Korea's real estate trust industry consists of 14 dedicated trust companies, of which only two — Korea Asset Trust and Korea Land Trust — are listed on the KRX. In 2025, the 14 industry players posted a combined net loss of KRW 4,689 (100mn), marking a second consecutive annual loss following 2024 (5 of the 14 companies were loss-making), but Korea Asset Trust remained profitable on the back of preemptive loan-loss provisioning in 2024-2025 (approximately KRW 660 (100mn) in 2025) (per Korea Investors Service compilation, AsiaA 2026 article).
| Item | Korea Asset Trust (123890) | Korea Land Trust (034830) |
|---|---|---|
| Close (2026-08-18) | KRW 2,375 | KRW 1,138 |
| PER | 5.91x | 13.70x |
| PBR | 0.27x | 0.24x |
| Dividend yield | 6.32% | 6.15% |
| 2025 operating profit change | -33.9% (consolidated) | -57.2% |
The regulatory minimum for NCR (net capital ratio) is 150%. Bar widths are a relative comparison (for reference only) scaled to 833% as 100%. Reference date/source: Korea Asset Trust as of end-June 2024 (Ebtomato News), Shinhan Asset Trust as of end-2024 (TheBell, 2025-02-24).
Governance & Capital Structure
As of 2026-06-30 · Source: semiannual report (DART filing no. 20260814001649), largest-shareholder and minority-shareholder status disclosures (A).
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 2026-03-26 | Board resolution · Annual general meeting held (CEO change agenda, outside director reappointment agenda, etc.) |
| 2026-03-28 | Former CEO (Kim Gyu-cheol) term expired |
| 2026-03-29 | New CEO (Shin Chan-hyeok) took office · outside director composition change took effect · Kim Gyu-cheol's entire share holding disposal reflected |
Korea Asset Capital (100.0% owned, book value KRW 2,503.72 (100mn) as of 2026-06-30) was confirmed as the sole operating subsidiary. As this entity does not file periodic reports with OpenDART, its sub-subsidiary ownership structure is not available. The ownership structure of MDM Co., Ltd. and MDM Plus Co., Ltd. themselves (Moon Joo-hyun's respective stakes in each entity) falls outside Korea Asset Trust's disclosure scope and is not available.
Risk Factors
The trust account advance balance (funds the company lends to debt-type land trust projects) expanded from KRW 2,610 (100mn) in 2021 to KRW 8,190 (100mn) at end-2024 and KRW 8,020 (100mn) at end-2025, with related loan-loss provisions increasing from KRW 817 (100mn) at end-2023 by roughly KRW 660 (100mn) more in 2025 (Dealsite, Ebtomato News). Of the debt-type trust project construction sites scheduled for completion in 2026, 2 of 4 remain outstanding; delayed completion or weak pre-sale rates could trigger further provisioning. Across the real estate trust industry, 13 lawsuits related to completion-guarantee obligations have been filed (combined claims of roughly KRW 3,400-3,454 (100mn)), but no instance of Korea Asset Trust being explicitly named as a defendant in these suits was confirmed in this research (not available: the original text of the contingent-liabilities note in the semiannual report). The 2026 status of the February 2025 National Tax Service special tax investigation (related to employee self-dealing, in which a former division head and two others were indicted for violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes) is not available.
Macro Environment
| Factor | Current value (as of reference date) | Transmission channel |
|---|---|---|
| Bank of Korea base rate | 2.75% (raised 2.50%→2.75% on 2026-07-16) | Higher funding/lending rates on trust account advances → weaker pre-sale market → lower new contracts and fee income |
| Mortgage rate (new originations) | ~4.17% (early 2026) | Weaker housing demand sentiment → lower pre-sale rates → slower recovery of trust account advances |
| PF loan maturities (Q4 2026) | ~KRW 13.48 trillion | Delayed conversion of bridge loans to main PF loans → higher provisioning burden |
| Nationwide unsold housing units | 67,464 units (end-June, rising for 3 consecutive months) | Pre-sale-rate-linked soundness regulation (effective 2025-07-01) → more assets classified as substandard-or-below → higher credit costs |
| Trust industry new contracts | KRW 2 trillion (2021) → KRW 1 trillion (2024) | Structural shrinkage of the trust-fee revenue base itself |
Reference date 2026-08-17/18 · Source: Bank of Korea, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Statistics System, BetaNews (2026-06-09), Financial News · Korea Economic Daily (2026-07-31), KDI Economic Information Center (A/C mixed — see each cited article for detail).
Supply & Demand
This research was unable to obtain reliable data on net buying/selling by investor type (foreign/institutional/retail/other corporate), short-selling ratio and balance, foreign ownership ratio and limit utilization, daily trading value trends, or margin balances, and these are treated as not available (reason: pykrx not installed, and dynamic rendering/access restrictions on major domestic securities-information sites). The only confirmed facts are the reference-date closing price (KRW 2,375, -1.25% vs. previous close) and volume (340,359 shares), which are authoritative price/volume data, not supply-and-demand data.
News Timeline
| Date | Content |
|---|---|
| 2026-02-09 | Disclosed preliminary consolidated FY2025 (25th term) results — net income KRW 493.95 (100mn) (+32%), revenue KRW 2,042 (100mn) (-9.8%), operating profit KRW 342 (100mn) (-33.9%). Resolved a cash dividend of KRW 150 per common share (up from KRW 100 the prior term) |
| 2026-03-26 | 25th-term annual general meeting — approved financial statements, resolved the KRW 150 dividend, reappointed outside directors Choi Jin-young and Han Sung-hee, approved CEO change (Kim Gyu-cheol → Shin Chan-hyeok) |
| 2026-03-29 | New CEO Shin Chan-hyeok took office · outside director composition change took effect · Kim Gyu-cheol's entire share holding disposal reflected |
| 2026-05-02 | Korea Ratings Corporation downgraded the unsecured corporate bond rating from A (negative) to A- (stable) — citing weak recovery of trust account advances and declining profitability |
| 2026-08-14 | Filed H1 2026 semiannual report (filing no. 20260814001649) — revenue KRW 1,475.9 (100mn), operating profit KRW 418.0 (100mn), net income KRW 355.4 (100mn) (cumulative) |
Individual news items from 2026-08-18 itself and the preceding one to two weeks were found in searches but could not be confirmed, and are treated as not available. A discrepancy between the operating profit figure in the 2026-02-09 disclosure (consolidated, KRW 34 (100mn)) and a figure cited in some 2026-03-09 media reports (standalone, KRW 90 (100mn)) was confirmed to be a consolidated-vs-standalone basis difference (cross-checked against the semiannual report financial statements).
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Fact Highlights
This is not investment advice. FomoLog provides factual summaries and post-hoc price-change context only. Investment decisions and their outcomes are solely the responsibility of the investor.
Generated by FomoLog Agent · Data sources: Korea Exchange · DART · media reports (Dealsite, Korea Financial News, Bloter, AsiaA, etc.)